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Monday, January 21, 2013

Two more no-parking cr-apartment bunkers on the boards

It's business as usual at Portland City Hall. A new parking-less human warehouse is on tap over between the Portland State patronage center and I-405 -- already not a place you'd want to go in a car that you have to park. Surely the car haters in city government will rubberstamp it straight through to fruition.

Further along, another one's ready to go in at SE 16th and Morrison. Combined with the monstrosity currently being built at 20th and Morrison, the poor folks who live in this part of the Buckman neighborhood will probably never find a parking space again.

As we recall, there's a juvenile halfway house of some sort right across the street from the planned bunker at 16th. We wonder how a lot of new foot traffic will affect that facility, and vice versa.

Comments (16)

Pretty soon this will be the new Portland. The government shows no restraint, and no concern about the character and quality of life in the 19th century so-called trolley neighborhoods they love to brag about. I suppose Brooklyn is the new model, or some town in Europe. Mid-rise buildings compacted into a small, dense footprint inside city limits with trains taking people beyond their own living hell -- oops, I meant cages.

Planners and city hall types refuse to believe that the majority of Americans still want a house with a yard, and if they have to go to the suburbs to get it, they will. Even in Portland. But who gives a rip what people want - give them what they should have!! D+*# it!

You should attend the LUBA hearing Thursday on the Richmond Neighbors for Responsible Growth's appeal of one of the crapartment erections being im...er, proposed on SE Division @37th. Construction underway, but?

The project on 16th and Morrison is another Wally Remmers cr-apartment. These Remmers/Sackhoff projects are cheap, fugly, and virtually everywhere...the "new" Portland indeed; these guys are kicking back in their comfy Beaverton office chairs laughing all the way to the bank.

no concern about the character and quality of life in the 19th century so-called trolley neighborhoods they love to brag about.

Ironically, the "streetcar suburbs" were designed to be removed from the central core, enclaves of the wealthy to live away from the grime and noise of downtown.

When the streetcar companies started faltering (because the real estate they sold and developed was built out, so there was no continuing income to prop up the trolley line) they cut back service, angering riders. When Henry Ford came out with his Model T, folks happily gave the middle finger to the streetcar/trolley companies and drove - and then demanded cities pave streets.

The streetcar story, as told by the supporters, is glamorized and trumped up to be more than it really is, just like the story of commuter rail or intercity trains. Most people didn't ride the first class trains like the movie stars did, they rode the "local" train that made every stop, used the oldest, dingiest cars, dining cars? Forget it...they weren't on the local trains.

Good for the neighborhood to fight for their livability, but once again,
why do the people have to put this much energy and money to do so?

2 The Main Street Corridor overlay zone is shown on the city’s zoning map by adding the letter “m” after the base zoning designation. In this case the zoning map designation for tax lot 17200 is CSm. Tax lot 17300, which is not subject to the Main Street Corridor overlay zone, is shown on the zoning map with only its base zoning designation, CS.

When did the Main Street Corridor overlay zone come into being? The city and planning department can redo our neighborhoods by naming these various designations. Hales was instrumental as Planning Commissioner years ago at changing what I considered good codes for livability with documents such as Code Language Improvement Projects. It is difficult to keep up with all the changes and nuances of regulations of the planning bureau. There used to be an “a” overlay in areas to allow additional densities. Then there are the adjustments to regulations that can be brought up to facilitate projects. More recently attempts were made I believe by the Parks Bureau to have “good neighbor agreements” instead of CU (Conditional Use). Let us not forget the handy word of mitigation and/or the bonus points in order to achieve end results city and developers want. It can be overwhelming/weary trying to keep track of codes and regulations and my sympathy to any neighborhood who has to deal with it.

Somewhere recently in a local rag there was an nauseating article about a neighborhood association (Buckman, maybe?) and the invasion of crapartment bunkers, the latest of which involved buying an older craftsman house so that it could be town down and its property combined with the lot next door to provide the location for a new "no parking provided" cellblock. The gist of the article was one of hopelessness. They quoted the neighborhood people saying that they realized this was the wave of the future and there wasn't anything they could do to stop it so they were trying to prevail upon the developer to make some of the apartments affordable. Good luck with that! Anyone in the path of these condo machines or strip mall marauders need only visit what used to be Gresham to have their pants scared off them.

...have been brought to us by those guys in Beaverton. There's nothing wrong with providing what the market needs, but these are all very low quality builds and are the slums of the future -- in the middle of some of Portland's greatest neighborhoods...and most have no parking at all.

My point is that it seems as long as it was happening in outer neighborhoods the UGB plan and density seemed fine. Personally, I don't like seeing the character taken from neighborhoods or negative plans on any parts of our city.
Once codes are changed and precedence is set, it may be too late, We ought not be divided, the way this city is going, they will next go into any neighborhood they want and will do the same or damn well what they please. And along with Metro, I think we need to beware of how the word "blight" is being used.

NW Portlander:Anyone in the path of these condo machines or strip mall marauders need only visit what used to be Gresham to have their pants scared off them.

For another preview, I suggest a drive on 122nd Powell to Foster and take a look, and tour other parts of East Portland that were rezoned.
Yes in some neighborhoods, the density will be made a bit more fancy, but nevertheless, eventually being too crowded no matter where has some price to pay.

Another day, I might write about the document on Title 34, our Land Division Code that the city decided needed to be "redone." If you don't think that changes made in that 400 page document, were not detrimental to our livability, think again.

What citizen can possibly keep up with huge planning bureau staff and regulations, yet so much of it determines what can happen to the very places we live, our neighborhoods and quality of life.

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 155
At this date last year: 241
Total run in 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269